The Cornish Cat Cafe ✨ Soothing Bedtime Story

[00:00:10] Hello Sleep Wavers, Karissa here. Tonight we have a soothing sleepy story to drift off to. Before we relax into deep sleep together, I want you to think of one person who you know who struggles with sleep or needs more of it. If you could share our show with that person, we'd be so honored. We all know that when we sleep better, everything in life gets better too. They'll thank you for it, and so do we.

[00:00:39] Tonight, I'd like to tell you the tale of a cafe tucked away in the whitewashed streets of a Cornish fishing town, home to a horde of cats and their owner, Jenny, who is beginning to be drawn deeper into the web of this cozy little community and is starting to feel that she's found her home.

[00:01:01] If you love this show, start a free trial of Sleep Wave Premium tonight. You'll relax and sleep easier with no advertisements, enjoy more variety with two premium episodes every month, and unlock the full library of exclusive supporter-only episodes. Join in two taps via the link in the show notes. Cancel any time. But now, a quick word from our sponsors who make this free content possible.

[00:01:26] Hey Sandra, we have us long before we haven't seen. Hello, Nadine. Mensch, du siehst ja toll aus. Ja, danke. Ich habe mein Plus fürs gesündere Ich entdeckt. Was? Komm, ich zeige es dir. Die Bewegungskurse der AOK Plus. Kostenfrei für AOK Plus Versicherte. Entdecke dein Plus fürs gesündere Ich und starte mit unserem Selfcheck. Ganz einfach online auf aok.de. Aus Liebe zur Gesundheit. AOK Plus.

[00:01:57] Hey, it's Carissa, and right now you can try Sleep Wave Premium free for 14 days, but this offer is only around until June 16th. If you listen on Apple Podcasts, this is the perfect time to check out the Sleepiest Network Bundle. With just one subscription, you'll unlock Sleep Wave, Sleep Magic, and Night Falls. With ad-free listening, bonus content, and over 650 calming episodes to choose from. Not familiar with the others?

[00:02:23] Sleep Magic offers dreamy visualizations with hypnotherapist Jessica Porter, and Night Falls features cozy bedtime stories told by Jeffrey in his soothing Scottish voice. And here's the best part. The Apple Bundle costs the same as subscribing to just one show on Supercast, so it's a really great deal. To start your trial, just head to the Sleep Wave page on Apple Podcasts and follow the prompts. Or if you'd rather listen elsewhere, we're also offering a 14-day free trial of Sleep Wave Premium on Supercast, just for new subscribers.

[00:02:53] No matter how you tune in, now's a great time to explore the full collection and find what works best for your sleep. Thanks for supporting the show and sweet dreams.

[00:03:12] It had finally reached that time of day when Jenny could sit down with her glass of wine, red, of course, and rested on the windowsill in between sips, so the evening sun could pour ruby dashes of light around the living room.

[00:03:40] She sipped and swirled and savored, placing the glass down and leaning back into the softness of her chair. Around her feet, Nutmeg rubbed and arched her back, winding herself between Jenny's ankles with more than a few hints being sent up in increasingly loud meows.

[00:04:07] Oh, come on up, said Jenny, patting her knee invitingly. The fluffy ginger cat didn't need asking twice and leapt softly, turning and kneading with her paws before settling into the perfect spot. Jenny felt Nutmeg's purrs as much as she heard them, a gentle, rumbling, soothing sound.

[00:04:37] She flicked through the pages of her recipe book, making decisions for the next day. The Cornish Cat Cafe had been open for a month now, and she was beginning to get an idea for what the locals loved. She had tried some of the fancy cakes she had learned to make in the London kitchens where she'd worked.

[00:05:06] Fourteen-hour days spent sweating and stressing, while she perfected sugarcraft, mirror glazes, the smoothest creme pâtissiere, and the lightest, fluffiest mousse. These skills and countless others had been brought together into the most exquisite delicacies,

[00:05:31] with gravity-defying chocolate displays dressed with intricately layered cakes. While the locals had admired her early efforts, and said how fancy and impressive they were, it was the thick slices of carrot cake and Victoria sponge and Chelsea buns

[00:05:56] that had raced out from under the giant glass domes that sat on Jenny's counter. Her customers would take themselves off to their chosen corner, bearing their cups and saucers and slices of cake triumphantly, before burying down into the generous piles of cushions

[00:06:21] and waiting for one or more of the resident cats to join them. Jenny was good at guessing which seats people would choose. Those who came on their own usually liked to head towards the window, where they could sit with their back to the cafe and their eyes to the view,

[00:06:47] watching as people wandered by in the outside world and looking down to the beach and harbor. It was autumn now, and only the brave dared venture into the sea. Rushing into the water with woolly hats in place, taking a few quick strokes back and forth,

[00:07:13] before running back up the beach to wrap themselves in towels and jumpers, shaking hands pouring mugs of tea from flasks. Some of the shops had Halloween displays in the windows, and Jenny had joined in, a carved pumpkin beaming out from each of the three windows. Each pumpkin, of course,

[00:07:43] showing the unmistakable pointed ears and whiskers of a cat. She had tried hanging soft wool spider webs, but the cats had a field day leaping around in those and tearing them down. So she'd settled for some fairy lights in the shape of little bats instead.

[00:08:07] A hanging paper mache witch on a broomstick bobbed up and down in one of the windows, just out of reach of any of the cats, however hard they tried to launch themselves in its direction. The locals seemed to appreciate Jenny's efforts, as many times they had knocked softly on the window with their gloved hands,

[00:08:36] catching her attention to give her a wave and a thumbs up while smiling at the displays. So the people by themselves would sit at the window. The couples always liked to get the cozy corners if they were available, hiding away from everyone else, and disappearing into their private world of in-jokes and understanding looks.

[00:09:08] Jenny only got to have that on weekends now, when Daniel made it down from the city. And even then, she would be working in the cafe most of the day. It would be madness to shut down on Saturdays and Sundays, her two busiest days, but she did often wish her Saturday evening could last a little longer.

[00:09:38] Daniel caught the train on Friday after work, arriving in time for dinner, a bath, and maybe a single chapter of a book before curling up to sleep. On Saturdays, he lingered in bed if it was raining, or headed off to the coast path for long walks, with the sea air filling his lungs

[00:10:07] and throwing his hair into a wild mass. He turned up at the cafe for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays, eyed politely but suspiciously by the locals, who weren't quite sure about this expensively dressed man, who looked around with a proprietal air and never lifted a finger to help Jenny.

[00:10:34] Even when the cafe was filled to bursting. Most of them noticed that the cats never chose his knee to sit on. Miss Tibbs and Miss Whimsy, two elderly ladies who often came down to the cafe for a good old gossip, were secretly delighted when they saw a cat go near Daniel, only to throw up on his cashmere sweater.

[00:11:05] Jenny had been too busy to notice, and never did know why Daniel suddenly stormed off that day. Miss Tibbs and Miss Whimsy had their own plans for Jenny, involving a local fisherman named Sam. But Jenny didn't know this yet. Miss Tibbs and Miss Whimsy kept those plans

[00:11:32] firmly beneath their self-knitted, bobble-topped hats. In their minds, Sam was perfect for Jenny. And Jenny, gentle, smiling Jenny, was perfect for Sam. Like most of the locals who came in for a gossip, Miss Tibbs and Miss Whimsy could always be found on the plump sofa just beside the counter.

[00:12:03] That way, they could listen in to any chat between Jenny and the customer. On the off chance they learned something new, and a stray piece of information was inadvertently exchanged. Gossip in small towns is, of course, something of a sport. And in this particular sport, Miss Tibbs and Miss Whimsy were Olympic gold medalists.

[00:12:33] They were the first to know that Jenny had come down to Pennyworth Cove after she had dramatically quit her job in a fancy hotel. Apparently, they whispered to friends. The chef had looked at one of her trays of cakes ready to go on display and flipped it over, shouting that he had wanted raspberries, not strawberries as decoration.

[00:13:01] And couldn't she take a simple instruction? They were the first to know that Jenny had sat at home worrying for weeks on end, before finally making the somewhat random decision to return to the scene of her childhood summers.

[00:13:23] She had spent weeks at a time camping with her family just outside Pennyworth Cove, enduring rain and boiling temperatures in that determined, stoical way only displayed by English families camping in the summertime. Pennyworth Cove was your typical Cornish seaside village,

[00:13:51] solidly built granite cottages, once the home of fishermen, were now transformed into miniature boutiques and art galleries, stocked with beautiful products made by enterprising locals. The Cornish Cat Cafe had been a sad, worn affair before Jenny appeared.

[00:14:18] Formerly called the Pennyworth Plate, a somewhat uninspiring name, it had been dressed with a bright plastic frontage and wipe-clean tables with china bowls filled to bursting with shiny packets of sugar and sauce. Jenny had come along and transformed it within just a few weeks.

[00:14:45] Her energetic enthusiasm turning it into a beautiful, wooden-fronted, whitewashed cafe with blue wooden shutters, a door that rang a cheerful little bell when it opened, and heaps of cushions and throws on deep, soft chairs.

[00:15:09] The pastel-painted walls were covered with beautiful watercolors by a local artist, and pretty flowered teacups hung in rows along the exposed beams. The counter had been specially crafted, a sweeping curve that looked like a wave about to break.

[00:15:37] With all the cakes in their glass domes perched on its crest, with the floor painted a deep blue, there was the amazing sensation of being a part of the ocean when you entered the cafe. And everywhere, there were cats.

[00:16:06] Jenny had known only one thing when she set off towards Pennyworth Cove, and it was that she wanted to create a place where cats would be safe and loved. She had all but emptied the local rescue center shortly after arriving,

[00:16:29] filling her little green van with crates that held gray cats and ginger cats, calico cats and black cats, white cats and tabby cats, and cats that defied all description. The cats were free to come and go as they pleased,

[00:16:56] and on days when the autumn sun still held a little warmth, they would often be lined up in front of the cafe, curled up on the pavement and soaking up the heat. There was a space behind the cafe where they could retreat away from people if they wanted,

[00:17:20] and this was filled with toys and little nooks where they could hide, and scratching posts for their claws, and a fountain that trickled constantly in the corner. But more often than not, the cats would spend their time in the cafe.

[00:17:46] They reveled in the hugs and strokes from strangers. Although, of course, after a month, many of the visitors were no longer strangers at all. Miss Tibbs and Miss Whimsy, for example, were always joined by two black cats, which gave Jenny no end of amusement,

[00:18:16] as she could readily imagine the pair laughing together over a giant cauldron conjuring up magic, or flying around on broomsticks with long skirts flapping. Oh, they were certainly good witches. Miss Tibbs and Miss Whimsy would never do harm. But in Jenny's mind, they were still,

[00:18:44] nonetheless, witches. And that's how Jenny came to be in Pennyworth Cove, sitting by herself one evening with a recipe book in hand, and trying to decide between bread and butter pudding or treacle tart. In the end, she gave up and decided to make both,

[00:19:10] adding a quick note to increase the volume of the custard she would need to make as well. She lived in a little flat above the cafe. And although it was small, it was still infinitely larger than the flat she and Daniel had shared in London. He wanted her to take a week off and go back to visit him,

[00:19:38] but the cafe had barely been opened a month. She wanted to feel more settled before she dared to close at all. She wanted the locals to know that she was steady and reliable. They already knew that if they appeared at the door a few minutes early, she would always let them in.

[00:20:07] And if they were buried deep in conversation come closing time, she would just curl up with a cat and a book and wait for them to finish rather than ask them to leave. She regarded the cafe as a home away from home for the residents of Pennyworth Cove.

[00:20:33] Jenny knew that in places like this, shops only survived with the goodwill and support of the locals. Thanks to her efforts, she already had that in bucket load. Besides, to be honest, if she really sat and thought about it and dared herself to think these thoughts,

[00:21:03] she didn't actually miss Daniel all that much. Not the way she thought she would and not the way she thought she should. She caught herself missing things like the theater sometimes, but then she realized that he'd never gone with her anyway. She missed the thought of being near the airports

[00:21:29] and being able to go anywhere at a moment's notice. But if truth be told, they never did that. He'd taken her to Rome once, two years ago, and only because he had a conference to attend. That meant they'd stayed in the same hotel as the conference, a boxy, drafty, monochrome place

[00:21:59] on the outskirts of the outskirts of the city. And she'd spent the three days in bed watching television in a language she didn't understand. She laughed a little as she remembered him telling friends sometimes about his time in Rome. And she'd always been embarrassed in case anybody found out the truth.

[00:22:29] But he was hers and she was his. And they'd settled into that steady, reliable sort of relationship that exists without any particular purpose or merit. But there's nothing inherently bad or wrong with it. And he did make the effort

[00:22:58] to come down on Friday evenings when he really didn't need to. And he did always appreciate the meals she cooked for him. And he did put up with her mad idea to open the cat cafe. In hindsight, that was possibly because he hadn't really thought she'd go through with it. But still,

[00:23:28] he was here, supporting it. Of course, it was only fair she should go to London sometime and see him there. Jenny sighed. Nutmeg stirred on her lap. The old thing mumbled Jenny, gently lifting the sleeping cats and placing him on the chair as she stood up. Cakes to bake,

[00:23:59] plans to make, dreams to shake. It was a silly motto she had conjured up on the train down to Pennyworth Cove that first time, but she quite liked it and in fact, had it stitched onto the apron she wore in the cafe. A few people had commented on it and she thought of perhaps making some to sell in the run-up to Christmas.

[00:24:28] Her mind was always dancing with ideas and she absolutely couldn't wait for the warmer months to appear when she would set up little chairs and tables on the pavement outside and be even more a part of life in the cove. Jenny padded over to the kitchen and started pulling out

[00:24:57] everything she would need. Huge bags of flour were set alongside others of sugar with boxes of dried fruits and chocolate buttons and cocoa nibs and icing sugar spread across the worktop. Pats of yellow butter stood ready for use,

[00:25:25] softened on the sill in the evening sun. She took down the old weighing scales she used, the brass pan and set of weights bringing back memories of baking with her grandmother all those years ago. It was her grandmother who had taught her a love of baking, starting her off

[00:25:54] with bread rolls that soon became bread plates and baguettes and round country loaves and bagels sprinkled with seeds and cinnamon. As she rolled out pastry for a rhubarb and ginger tart, feeling the wooden pins smooth beneath her hands, Jenny was always whisked back

[00:26:24] to those days of her childhood and the love of her grandmother. She remembered being right here in Pennyworth Cove, filling jam jars with blackberries to take with her to her grandmother so they could make it into jar after jar of deep purple jam.

[00:26:53] She and her brother had climbed trees and gathered apples too, taking them home in mounds carried in bags hastily fashioned from their jumpers. One of Jenny's ideas was to bring together the community by foraging for food in the hedgerows and along the coastline. showing them

[00:27:22] which leaves and flowers and seaweeds could be dried or soaked or stewed or baked, slicing the deep red stems of rhubarb now. She remembered Daniel's response to that. He'd been all positive, but then he'd started going on about health

[00:27:52] and safety and rules and regulations. And looking back, he'd quite put her off the idea while seeming to support it. She thought about telling him not to bother coming down this weekend after all. She thought about going instead to the little pub with Tara, a woman who came into the cafe a few times a week

[00:28:21] and was clearly trying her hardest to befriend and welcome Jenny to the cove. But each invitation Jenny had turned down because of work or Daniel visiting, and she knew that soon the invitations would dry up. Tara always seemed to have a laugh waiting to pour out of her. She was as wide as she was short

[00:28:50] and always had a leaf or two stuck in her hair. Her florist shop was three doors down from the Cornish Cat Cafe, and she often dropped off little bouquets at the end of the day, posies really, saying that they were about to start wilting and Jenny simply must have them for her countertop, if only for a day. Of course,

[00:29:20] they always lasted for ages, so much so that every table was invariably dressed with a little nosegay in a vase, thanks to Tara and her shop blooming marvelous. Yes, she should go to the pub with Tara. Jenny made a firm decision. Perhaps she'd tell Daniel she was coming

[00:29:50] down with a cold and he really shouldn't visit. Daniel had always been particularly paranoid about getting colds, and he would easily be put off by this little lie. It would only be for this weekend, she told herself firmly. and then added that aloud to Pumpkin, who had meowed her way into the kitchen

[00:30:19] looking for a treat. She slipped Pumpkin a blueberry from the bowl that was standing ready waiting to be poured into the muffin mix. Pumpkin rubbed her soft head against Jenny's arm. Do you think I should tell Daniel I'm coming down with a cold Pumpkin? Jenny asked the cat.

[00:30:48] And do you think I should go to the pub with Tara on Friday evening? The cat gave her a look that Jenny decided meant she would be a fool if she did anything else. She slipped the last batch of cake tins into the oven and returned to the chair by the window.

[00:31:18] Adding a little more wine to the glass, Nutmeg was happy to be scooped up and returned to Jenny's knee. Outside, the moon scattered its white light across the tops of the waves, she looked down to see the window displays

[00:31:46] still glowing along the little street and at the end where it turned into a steep hill, she saw the lights of the mermaid, the pub she would visit in just a few days with Tara. Silhouettes moved around in the window, people out and about and a part of the world of Pennyworth Cove

[00:32:16] in a way that Jenny wanted to be too. With the cat purring contentedly on her knee, she leaned back and dreamed of her future, of the cakes she would make, of the people she would meet, of the laughter and smiles she would share with new friends.

[00:32:46] She watched a fishing boat slip silently from the harbor and head out to sea. Unaware that a man named Sam was on board, thinking his own thoughts about his future and what it might hold. The universe continues to turn, holding its cards close

[00:33:16] to its chest, dreams waiting to be discovered by those who are ready to live.